New Intel Emerges on Who Arizona’s Backup Quarterback Might Be

As the Arizona Wildcats continue to go through preseason camp, they have had some injury issues they will need to sort out by the time they start conference action after their first two games of the year.

The good news is their superstar wide receiver is back on the field practicing, although they are slowly working him back into full contact drills while his leg continues to heal

Unfortunately, the offensive line keeps getting banged up, forcing the coaching staff to utilize multiple players across different positions to try and see which group will give them the best chance of winning.

Brent Brennan taking over this program has also given everyone a new opportunity to prove to the coaching staff that they can have a role during the upcoming season.

This has resulted in some exciting position battles where some new names are emerging as potential impact players on both sides of the ball.

However, until the backup quarterback is officially named, that will garner most of the attention.

For a while, it seemed like it would be a three-horse race between previous walk-on Cole Tannenbaum, former four-star recruit Brayden Dorman, and San Jose State transfer Anthony Garcia, but the pair of Tannenbaum and Dorman have emerged as the two who are battling it out for the distinguished role.

Dorman seemed to be the likely winner early on, deciding to return to Arizona after entering the transfer portal and bringing his recruiting pedigree with him, but as the Wildcats start getting ready to establish their depth chart, it’s been Tannenbaum who is running with the second unit.

“Cole Tannenbaum took the reps as the second quarterback and if that happens again on Thursday, it feels safe to say that he has locked up the job or at least has a leg up on the competition,” reported Jason Scheer of 247Sports coming out of practice on Tuesday.

Ideally, neither of the backups will see the field if the game isn’t a blowout.

Arizona’s star Noah Fifita looks poised for another breakout, earning himself a place on multiple national watchlists coming off winning the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award.

Still, it’s always best to have someone who can be effective when filling in during the worst-case scenarios, so it will be interesting to see who Brennan and his staff ultimately decide to name as their No. 2 guy.